Hollywood's Triple-A list actors have started becoming integrally involved in trying to solve the Writers Guild strike against the Hollywood CEOs. I've just been told that George Clooney today is volunteering to personally set up a so-called "mediation panel" including himself and with plans to ask Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and John Wells (the executive producer of ER and a controversial ex-WGA president) to be part of it, plus 3 or 4 bigwigs who are siding with the producers. The offer came in a phone call today with Harvey Weinstein who promptly volunteered to be part of the panel. Clooney suggested its purpose should be to oversee the talks and tell the WGA as each term is bargained "you have to live with this and get over it," and tell the AMPTP "you have to live with that and get over it", Weinstein quoted George as saying. It's also Clooney's idea that everybody would be locked in the room together and not leave until the deal is done. FRIDAY UPDATE: A Clooney insider tells me: "It would be more accurate to say that George has and would offer to help, including putting a group of people in a room that know both the CEOs and the writers personally. And that of course he would do anything to get this over. He didn't use any of the rhetoric that's being attributed to him [by Weinstein]. His stance has always been to find common ground and not alienate each other."
This follows a London interview by that other Triple-A lister Tom Hanks linking the fate of the upcoming Academy Awards to the studios' continued refusal to "get down to honest bargaining". Both Clooney and Hanks are making it clear publicly that they're concerned about the writers strike's collateral damage. Hanks said corporate bosses should remember that many ancillary businesspeople were suffering from the studios and networks refusing to restart negotiations with the Writers Guild. "There are caterers and carpenters ... and electricians and gaffers," Hanks told Reuters in London Wednesday night. "There are a lot of people out there associated with the industry, for whom the sooner this work stoppage is over the better." And Clooney said much the same thing when he appeared onstage at Monday night's Critics Choice Awards (photo above): "When the strike happens, it's not just writers [affected]... Our hope is that all the players will lock themselves in a room and not come out until they finish. We want this to be done. That's the most important thing."
Now that Clooney and Hanks are at the head of the line, then Will Smith, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Julia Roberts and other AAA-listers may follow their lead. As I wrote way back on November 7th soon after the WGA strike started and have said repeatedly since, the only time I've ever heard of Hollywood CEOs caving on a major negotiation is when they get in the same room with a major star. There's just something so needy within the Hollywood moguls' psyche that they want to be liked and respected by the creatives they in turn like and respect. (I assume this is why these businessmen make TV and movies instead of toothpaste and mattresses.) Therefore, any professional, personal and even psychological pressure put by these top-of-the-heap artists on the studio and network bosses could make all the difference in solving this strike.
Hanks and Clooney are studs!!! Go, boys! Someone needs to clean up this shit. We love ya!
Comment by Writer — January 10, 2008 @ 5:35 pm
So George Clooney is going to personally tell the WGA “you have to live with this and get over it?”
Shoot! I had planned to oppose any bad contract that might be presented to us, but if George tells us ratify it… well, now I don’t know whether to give up all residuals forever or not!
Comment by Dennis Wilson — January 10, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
How ironic that these guys are only now chiming in as the Oscars draw near…
Comment by Andrew — January 10, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Let’s get some women in there, too, and cut this tiresome old boys club already - these CEO guys are disastrous childish businessmen.
Comment by Observant Public — January 10, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Clooney and Hanks have actual personal integrity. They are probably the only superstars who will be brave enough to do this. None of the other stars you mentioned will step up to be a leader here. They’re all cowards. Jodie Foster might but I doubt it. However George and Tom will be enough provided they can get Spielberg to stand with them. If they can do that there will be a deal by the middle of Feb.
Comment by Anonymous — January 10, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Great, so Oprah Winfrey dictates who our President is, and George Clooney is the last hope to end a union strike
scary times
Comment by TV Public — January 10, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
I didn’t see any female stars coming up to the plate. Who’s ever first in line, gets to call the shots.
Sorry Darling.
Comment by N — January 10, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
Just when you thought you couldn’t love George Clooney any more than you already do…
Comment by Echo — January 10, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
“George Clooney today is volunteering to personally set up a so-called ‘mediation panel’ including himself and with plans to ask Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and John Wells (the executive producer of ER and ex-WGA president) to be part of it, plus 3 or 4 bigwigs who are siding with the producers.”
John Wells? WTF?
Where are the writers’ representatives on this panel?
John Wells actively works against the WGA. He intentionally undermined it when he was a president. The things that John Wells did in his attempt to crush the WGA from the inside is one of the reasons why there is a strike.
This looks like AMPTP work to me. There is not one writer on that panel. It’s 100% PRODUCERS.
People should stop fantasizing that others are going to speak for the WGA in negotiations.
Leno has shown he doesn’t side with the WGA. Kimmel has shown he doesn’t side with the WGA. Stewart is against the WGA. Colbert is against the WGA.
And they have used their own shows to SPEAK AGAINST THE WGA. It is exactly what they were going to do and stupid gullible people thought otherwise.
Those people were supposed to be some of your heroes. Yet, they write and perform their own material night after night.
No once cares about the writers except the rank and file. Do not let anyone dictate B.S.
Clooney and a panel of 100% PRODUCERS is B.S. Don’t think Speilberg is more interested in the WGA than he is creating product and banking the proceeds.
Some of you people are gullible as hell. No wonder this strike will be a failure.
Comment by Where are the Writers? — January 10, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
Oh my god, don’t let John Wells be a part of any “mediation panel”! He’s the reason we’re in this mess. He’s the one who sold us out on the previous contracts, and he’s the one who recommended that we drop the dvd demand so that we’d see some movement from the studios. Which obviously didn’t happen.
Comment by matt — January 10, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Dennis and Andrew,
Way to go with the positive energy. Both of them already have OSCARS and both of them are already multimillionaires. Do you want to get back to work or not? Why don’t you see what comes of this before shooting it down. There is enough hardship in our Industry as it is…a little bit of hope and positive thinking can go a long way.
I’m trying to look at these two great guys speaking out, one of whom I’ve met and is truly the real deal, and picture the snowball beginning to get bigger.
Keep the faith! Please.
Actor Also Affected and trying hard to remain optimistic…while sitting here in a Florida hospital room beside my mother who just got out of a successful surgery…
Comment by Larry Sullivan — January 10, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Hey, George Clooney’s a movie star, he played Batman, he has a villa in Italy, so who could possibly argue that he doesn’t have the right to supercede the WGA’s negotiating committee and simply dictate the terms of a deal to us. Man has an Oscar party to get to, people.
Comment by StickingWithMyUnion — January 10, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
These actors are overestimating their power and influence in a situation which is in fact way over their heads. Sumner Redstone and Bob Iger and Rupert Murdoch will have a good laugh over the notion of anybody compelling them to stay in a room or live with anything short of total victory. But as long as the writers stay united and hold the line, the one laugh they won’t have is the last one.
Comment by Stephen — January 10, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Something has to be done. I had to take my daughter out of school because I can’t afford it now. My child is suffering over this.
Comment by Laura B. — January 10, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
This is great. What will happen when the AMPTP tells all of those stars to go fuck themselves?
Comment by A Strike Captain — January 10, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
Great idea. Way to go Hanks and Clooney.
One suggestion. Leave John Wells out of it. Please please please.
Comment by Shannon — January 10, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
This is all very well, but I’m not voting yes on a deal just because some highly paid actors tell me to. I’ll vote on a deal that makes sense and that preserves my pension and health benefits, thank you very much.
Comment by kitty — January 10, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Clooney proves himself to be the arrogant know-it-all we all thought he was. And Harvey Weinstein??? You HAVE to be kidding. Mind your own biz. I’m not giving away the internet for the next generation of writers because george says “live with it” so he doesn’t have to cross a picket line at the Oscars.
Comment by Jersey WGA — January 10, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
Where’s Chuck Norris when you need him? Oh yeah…right.
Comment by Tavis — January 10, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
Let’s not forget: It’s not just the caterers and carpenters who are eating shit in this strike.
It’s also the journeyman actors (such as myself) who rely on TV guest star parts and featured roles in films to get our health benefits, have a shot at a sustainable career and have a shot at a pension (if we ever can actually “retire”). So good on George and Tom. They don’t need the money but they haven’t forgotten where they came from. Let’s hope this works. I support everything my writer colleagues are fighting for. If they lose, SAG will be seriously screwed when they try to get Internet residuals on the table later this year.
To paraphrase Jason Robards character in “All The President’s Men”: We’re all under a lot of pressure. Nothing is riding on this except maybe the future well-being of the people that create the content without which there’d be no entertainment business in the first place.
Comment by Chris Grove — January 10, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Agreed, John Wells ia anathema to Working Writers. He was driving the truck that ran us over carrying our DVD Residuals. He cost us big time. And I highly doubt many in WGA want him involved in the process.
Let the WGA Negs carry on. United we stand…
Comment by PJ - Writer — January 10, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
Relax, people. Do you seriously think a “panel” of these people would be listened to by either side?
Congrats to them for the thought (sweet) but really– they just want to go to the Oscars. Big f’ing deal.
Comment by fallon greene — January 10, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
John Wells, is and was a writer. Yes, he is also a HUGE producer. And yes, some of the things that we bargained away happened on his tenure as Prez. But I have to say, he’s a fair minded man, and exactly the kind of person that might be palatable to both sides of this — he doesn’t make either side feel 100%, but that’s what I’ve been told happens in negotiations. Neither side will feel like they won, and that’s when the deal that needs to happen will happen. Don’t know if it’s true, but if it is, let’s give John Wells a shot. We were willing to on the eve of the strike if memory serves me, and this is from someone who has never worked with or been passed on by Mr. Wells. As unbiased as I can be about it.
Showrunner
Comment by Showrunner — January 10, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Hey it is an idea to try somthing NEW but now I see writers here attacking the idea and it’s creators. Sure George said “”you have to live with this and get over it”,but he also said: AMPTP “you have to live with that and get over it”. It IS gonna take compromise to settle this even if you don’t like the idea of compromise. Please don’t create another side fight against these guys! If this idea becomes a reality, whoever declines to participate will lose BIG in public opinion and industry support. Don’t piss this chance away so quickly - give it a shot. You don’t have to ratify a deal you don’t like.
Comment by TranspoBill — January 10, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
Nikki, do you really think that Rupert Murdoch could give a shit what Tom Hanks thinks of him?
These are not your father’s moguls. These guys are bigger than God.
Comment by ????? — January 10, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
This reminds me of the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict, when Sean Penn didn’t quite give a damn about us ‘all just getting along’ until the looters, pillagers, and arsonists were making their way into his neighborhood to baptize his home with molotov cocktails.
Like one of the above posters typed, Clooney and Hanks have some important shindigs to attend next month…
Comment by Alan Smithee, Jr. — January 10, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
I applaud any effort to resolve this. Thousands of below the line people say, “THANK YOU!”
Comment by Andrew — January 10, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
“Observant Public” is absolutely correct that more women need to be involved. The dynamic of the testosterone fest is too broken & needs some smart feminine insight to get proper mediation back on track. Multi-hyphenates who’ve produced and run companies such as Jodie Foster, or business leaders who’ve moved on from Hollywood such as Meg Whitman, could provide valuable help.
Also, will Clooney be able to find 3 or 4 people who actually side with the Hollywood CEOs?
Comment by thom taylor — January 10, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
Drop Wells fast.
Comment by A clue — January 10, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
Who decides which AAA listers are allowed in the room? Who decides which WGA listers are allowed in the room?
This is like the Korean/Vietnam peace talks - it took months just to decide on the shape of the table.
Nice try boys, I hope it works out because I’d love to get back to work. HOWEVER, I don’t want to, for the next few weeks/months, listen to “he can’t come in,” “why not her?,” “that Producer sucks.” We’d be back at square one until the DGA and SAG negotiations start.
Comment by Below the Line — January 10, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Good for them!!! I’m getting SICK of the actors saying they will stick it out as long as they need to in order to back up their writers. I think the writers deserve what they are asking for, but this strike is taking too long and someone needs to step up and get the 2 parties involved and get it resolved. The actors’ crew members are losing homes, taking their kids out of school, going broke ….below the line doesn’t have the means to ride this out for another 3-6 months.
I have always admired George Clooney and this just shows he is one of the few actors who realize there are HUNDREDS of below the line that are being hurt in this strike.
Arnold hasn’t stepped in yet, so good for George C., Tom Hanks and anyone else that joins them and helps to try to end this!!!!!
ENOUGH already!!!!! STRIKE A DEAL!!!!!
Comment by Anonymous — January 10, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Why does everyone leap to judgement over the first mention of a vague notion that might or might not happen? Maybe this will be a good thing. Maybe it won’t. Let it unfold before praising it or condemning it.
Comment by Anonymous — January 10, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
A dialogue has to get started. If Clooney and Hanks (perhaps Speilburg) can make it happen then I dont see a harm in letting them try. For those Wells bashers that claim he sold them out. The membership voted to take the deal. Blame them. Just as the membership has to vote to take any deal created here. Bitching and moaning and going on about how unfair your last deal was gets you nothing. Redstone, Murdoch and Iger have more money than god. They will be drinking champagne and eating caviar long after you waste away and lose everything you have while you are standing united and refusing to budge on a single issue. Convince the leadership that Animation and Reality aren’t worth losing your houses over.
Comment by Steve — January 10, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
Correction:
These guys THINK they are bigger than God.
Beware of false idols with clay feet.
Comment by BTL Single Guy — January 10, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
What is with all the negativity? Give Clooney and Hanks some credit for actually trying to get involved. I have to agree with Showrunner and TranspoBill. People need to stop being so militant. This strike is a disaster. Nobody is winning anything here and the longer this goes there is going to be less work for everyone. Unless you guys want to stay out until June or July both sides have to give in a little. Let’s hope there is some follow through here. Nikki is right. If enough A-list movie stars get involved there is a chance of getting them back to the table.
Comment by caught in the middle — January 10, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
AMEN STEVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by postpord.Guy — January 10, 2008 @ 11:23 pm
I don’t really know about Jon Stewart, but he claims to support the strike yet what are you going to do when it comes time to produce “A Daily Show?” As for Stephen Colbert, it is clear that he is acting. On his show, he plays a ultra-right-wing conservative as evidenced from Monday’s show, and he is doing what the soaps did during the 1988 strike and that is reuse scripts that were already produced.
Comment by Jessy S. — January 10, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
Attention, fellow writers: We have to knuckle under and take a shitty contract NOW. Hurry, Laura B. had to pull her kid out of private school!
Comment by Staying on the Picket Line — January 11, 2008 @ 12:33 am
What the rank and file of the WGA needs to do now is continue to back their leadership 100% and make it absolutely clear that they will vote down the deal if it sucks.
The moguls can be starstruck all they want. The writers know most actors are useless without a script.
Comment by mheister — January 11, 2008 @ 12:38 am
Jessy, yeah, Stewart and Colbert are CLEARLY in breach of the strike rules. If they don’t have their bits written, it’s amazing how quickly their directors find the perfect pic or video clip to put up. But the WGA is going to let them slide, just like Leno.
Comment by For real — January 11, 2008 @ 12:55 am
This labour dispute doesn’t need a mediation panel, it needs third party arbitration, preferably binding.
Comment by Chips Down — January 11, 2008 @ 2:05 am
Nice idea… bad idea… These few “A” list personalities aren’t really writers… not to say they may not have written… Clooney, Hanks, even Speilberg make their money in other ways, directing, producing, staring… with a few exceptions. So why are they ordained to tell either the WGA or AMPTP to take something or leave it. Sorry, I’ll leave it to the guild to represent me. D.
Comment by David G — January 11, 2008 @ 4:28 am
Hey, Clooney, don’t bother - Daniel Day-Lewis will be winning that Oscar this year!
Comment by jeff — January 11, 2008 @ 4:39 am
how about having one person from every union and guild affected by this strike on the panel. Don’t we have a say too???? it’s our jobs our livelyhood being affected by the egos and stubbornness of the WGA and the AMPTP.
Comment by doc — January 11, 2008 @ 4:57 am
I hope these well intended actors know what they are doing when they offer to mediate. It sounds like they don’t..Mediators don’t tell the parties what to do (”you need to live with that and get over it”). They facilitate negotiations between the parties so they can (together) come to an agreement and “live with it.” It is interesting that actors think they can “act” anything–including being professionals in a field that is complex and requires judgment and knowledge of how and when to “intervene.” George Clooney “acted” a great doc on ER but I wouldn’t want him doing my actual emergency treatment. Mediation can be just as hard as “human surgery.” Not necessarily a good idea to have non-professionals (even those with clout) in this situation. As we say as professional mediators, first “do no harm.”
Carrie Menkel-Meadow
A.B. Chettle Professor of Law, Dispute Resolution and Civil Procedure
Georgetown University Law Center
Comment by Carrie Menkel-Meadow — January 11, 2008 @ 7:09 am
I don’t understand those of you who begrudge anything these guys are trying to do. Have any better ideas? It must be nice to have so many resources that your happy to sit and rot away while the strike goes on and on and on. This strike is a disaster, and it’s only going to get worse for all of us. Those of us with families cannot simply wait for the leadership finally to make a move or wait for the greedy moguls finally to grow a heart - or find some reason.
As for the women, anyone who thinks women have real power in Hollywood probably also believes that Hillary’s campaign isn’t running up against sexism. What does it say about a country that it can’t handle the idea of a woman leader?
Clooney’s right - lock the babies in a room and don’t let them our til there’s a fair deal.
Also, please note folks that they said BOTH sides “would have to live with it and get over it” - not just writers. It’s called NEGOTIATING. Have at it!
Comment by Going Broke — January 11, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Let’s not forget those working in the Television Business. I an Account Executive, this stike will effect Broadcast sales for years to come.
AMPTP, writers deserve to be paid for anything that you make money on!
Best of luck writers.
Comment by teemo tv — January 11, 2008 @ 7:36 am
This got me thinking about a comment above about how women need to get involved. But who? Which one will (but should) be taken seriously? Angelina? She’s smart, she’s concerned but will she be criticized for supporting “Hollywood” when she’s focused so much attention elsewhere. Reese? Too mousy. Julia? Well isn’t she sort of semi-retired? The youngsters of today (the 2 Jessica’s, Scarlett or Natalie?) It’ll help but who’d listen?
The women that need to speak are the ones like Halle and Nicole. The ones who have been around for the better part of 20 years. There are many with production companies of their own (Foster, Barrymore) who could help as well.
Comment by JasonTHX — January 11, 2008 @ 8:06 am
We don’t need a “Mediation Panel.” We need the AMPTP to get back to the negotiating table!
Comment by Ashley Gable — January 11, 2008 @ 9:13 am
It’s about time that someone or a group steps up to the plate. It’s not about the Oscars coming around the corner either! I will miss the Globes this weekend, My hubby and I watch the pre show then the show every year and it will be missed sorely this yr! And to think that some of our favorite shows are out of new episodes! GIVE THE WRITERS WHAT THEY WANT AND GET ON WITH IT! THIS TRUELY IS AFFECTING YOUR DEAREST FANS!
Comment by D — January 11, 2008 @ 10:07 am
This cynicism is absurd. For f***’s sake, who cares if Osama bin Laden restarts the talks?
Also, isn’t this what the AMPTP wants, the WGA members to balk at any bit of potential hope?
Nikki makes a good point. All execs get into this bizz, let’s face it, for the glitz and the glamor and the fame and even the notoriety. Not to mention these big CEOs fancy themselves as celebs. So yes, when they’re in the room with Tom Hanks they are living out the dream they envisioned when they entered the damn entertainment business as a young buck many years prior In other words, these stinkin’ wealthy bullies are just little boys with dreams at the end of the day. Or maybe just little boys — hence, their Napoleonic insecurity.
Anyway, call me hopelessly, childishly optimistic, but I think this is the best news for the WGA in months.
Comment by Must we be so cynical? — January 11, 2008 @ 11:00 am
Wow, a positive action! That is, a potential positive action — instead of words, words, words. This is great!
But as mentioned, if George Clooney and Tom Hanks arrange mediation meetings, writers must have a voice, meaning writers must be present at the meetings.
And I bet you 4 cents that mediation is more than “just dealing with it and getting over it,” which sounds like a Marine Sargeant speaking, not a mediator. (No offence against Marine Sargeants, there’s a time and place for everything, including Marine Sargeants.)
I thought mediation was about finding solutions that everyone is satisfied with.
Note: The dictionary definition of mediation is: “to settle or reconcile by intervening as a peacemaker”.
A SUGGESTION: The next time you rent a movie, rent movies that George and Tom have been in!
Remaining hopeful,
Mimi
Comment by Mimi — January 11, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
I still give kudos to Brad Pitt for walking out on Universal for their dishonest and bullying attempts to get Pitt to accept a hobbled together script for State of Play. Pitt really wanted to do that movie after helping shepherd it for some 18 months. His refusal to go forward during the strike without the benefit of writers to repair it was a strong message to the studios that an A lister understood the value of and respect necessary for writers. So Pitt is no coward in my book. Now Russell Crowe rushing in to rescue Universal’s production for his pieces of silver is another story.
I also love how this episode exposed Variety’s willingness to do the studios’ bidding when it withheld the news that Pitt was leaving State of Play for weeks at Universal’s request, thus allowing Universal to try to spin Pitt as the bad guy.
Comment by Edward — January 11, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
AMPTP: “Spread the Wealth”.
Writers create product to sell again and again. No writers, no product…no product, no sale (& re-sale).
God Bless George, Tom, Steven, or anyone else who can get all the players in one place at one time to settle this.
Just make damn sure that when money passes hands over a sale, that it gets passed along to those who created something to sell in the first place.
Comment by Peter Bright — January 11, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
The rest of the world makes deals without the result of hurting people by a strike.
Got to love hollywood!
Comment by realworld — January 11, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
All I can say is if this gets the two sides talking again, I’m all for it. I want this thing over!
Comment by NellW — January 11, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
I called Actors Fund - the place Clooney gave money because it “was a grant not a loan.” The max they will give is $800.00 and then they can’t help you for two years after the $800 is given.
It’s a help but he shouldn’t hurt himself while patting himself on his back.
This can only get worse financially - I know I’m not the only one facing hardcore financial issues. We should start a web page for all the NON WGA who need financial services.
Variety already has a page for WGA folks who will discounts and free meals if they show their Guild card.
Comment by Nice Try Clooney — January 11, 2008 @ 4:18 pm
Offer declined.
Comment by Striking Writer — January 11, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
I just finished posting my conviction that the moneyed producers are determined to take the writers (and the actors to follow) union out with this action).
those guys have been preparing for this for a long time with the cr*p they are throwing at us now. They are not suffering - any losses will simply be tax deductions.
Just after I posted that - I saw that andother deal had been struck with the writers and one of the small production companies - I suddely had an epithany that THAT is our salvation and I will tout that any and everywhere I can find a voice!
It is time for TPTB to go - lets replace them with these small production companies that understand teamwork means sharing.
I will in a heart beat - give up my beloved exisiting shows and start over with new productions by these small companies - giving their advertisers my money to shut those unwashed heathen producers down. I am so anti union but the unmitigated GREED of the producers has just driven me over the edge to completely side with the writers here!
Comment by CJANDERSON — January 11, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
The crews are feeling powerless. If George or Tom can bring about a movement towards resolution, this is a GOOD THING…PERIOD!
The WGA is an intelligent guild. They are smart enough to realize that getting the AMPTP back to the bargaining table is definitely in their best interest, too. Their members are financially hurting, just like everyone else. They may not want to admit it, for fear of seaming weak to other stiking members, but the financial strain on their families is beginning to manifest.
No one should interpet the actor’s gesture as a failure or weakness. Crews are desperately hurting. It’s not just pulling children out of school. Although it is the innocent child who suffers because of loss of continuity, they will ultimately survive. It’s the potential of loosing homes and ingendering bad credit, that will leave lasting scars. The AMPTP should lead the way back to the table and legitimately begin negotiating, fairly. The WGA has a responsiblity to their crews to do the right thing now. Everyone please take the high road. If Clooney and Hanks are successful in their endeavor. The industry will owe them a great deal of gratitude.
We are all commenting out of frustration and fear because we want fairness to prevail, and our business to continue to flourish for many decades to come.
Comment by jpkou — January 12, 2008 @ 2:41 pm
George Clooney and Tom Hanks pretend for a living.
It is scary when you have “actors” or “pretenders”
dictating policy of any sort.
For example, ladies and gentlemen, Darfur(Sudan)has been going on for over 10 years. I am from the neighboring country of Uganda, so I know. George Clooney and other celebrites started talking about it, last year, when their publicists told them about it.
No body ever talks or gives credit to the people who have been there helping…who have no celebrity or money but are willing to help, with no cameras around.
Comment by Julie L — February 18, 2008 @ 7:14 am